1. Do not keep them in pairs. Hamsters are loners - keeping them together often results in stress, fighting, injuries and death. They are very happy alone.
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2. Minimum cage size
dwarf hamsters: 30 x 20 x 20 inches (80x50x50cm);
bigger hamsters: 40 x 20 x 20inches (100x50x50cm)!
as absolute minimum! (Please consider getting an even bigger cage + fenced run area!)
NOT like this:
Living in cages like this for them is like a human living in an elevator - a lot too small and even dangerous!
For them it feels like this:
Behavior like this is a signal for stress because the cage is too small or that they need more bedding:
Better:
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3. Your hamster (always!) needs a hamster wheel - and it must be a lot bigger than you might think!
Hamster must be able to run with a completely straight back
on a closed surface
with a closed back wall!
NOT like this:
Results of those wheels are: spine problems, backache, stress, injuries!
Minimum wheel size for dwarf hamsters: 9-10 inches.
Minimum wheel size for bigger hamsters: 12 inches!
Better:
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4. Do not buy them plastic tubes (at all):
Those tubes are not suitable at all: Hamsters get stuck or suffocate in them easily.
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5. Your hamster needs enough bedding to dig and build tunnels.
NOT like this:
Better:
Your hamster will be extremely happy and dig around and build tunnels all day (night).
Plastic gets swallowed, splinters, can injure or even kill your hamster.
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7. Hamsters ALWAYS need a sand bath.
Hamsters love rolling around in the sand, for them it’s like showering. How would you feel without a shower?
You can use those little baths as toilets, but you still need a bigger sand bath!
Better:
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8. Hamsters need a house with at least 2 or more chambers to store food, sleep etc. Also make sure that your hamster does have enough hiding places like coconuts, small houses, toilet rolls!
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9. Do use unperfumed toilet paper for nesting material, don’t use “hamster wool” -> it can tangle around a limb and seriously hurt and even kill your hamster!
NOT like this:
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10. Never ever ever put your hamster or any animal in a hamster ball.
They can’t get out, might suffocate or panic, might run against furniture and seriously injure themselves. The ventilation is terrible, your hamster can’t see/smell/hear enough or use any of their senses properly.
In some countries they even discuss about banning those by law!
Even if you think that “your hamster has fun in it” - please don’t use them!
Pet stores often are very misinformed and sell terrible cages and have little to no idea how to keep a happy hamster - please be careful when trusting them. In the end they often just want to make money - and the hamsters suffer.
Please adopt, not buy hamsters - there are too many hamsters in this world that we need any more breeding.
talking to non-rat owners: they’re actually extremely smart, so trainable, and obsessed with being Clean!! they spend all day washing their little faces and fussily rearranging their area!! good and precious!! never done anything wrong in their lives!!!
talking to another rat owner: oh, YEAH? well MY fatrat once chewed through the ENTIRE WALL! she also likes to beat up her sisters for their snacks, thieve food from my very mouth, and stick pizza crust in my underwear drawer.
You DO actually hurt the low-wage workers, not the billionaire CEO/Owners of the company.
Source: I’ve had my paycheck, hours, and job cut due to shoplifting on more than one occasion. I’m not the only one.
Also, you know who they blame first for large numbers of shoplifters frequenting the store or lots of product going missing? The staff. You know what they do if they think a few people on staff might be stealing? They replace all of them. Regardless of whether they can prove it. Yes. That’s totally legal.
Stop acting like your shoplifting is some radical anti-capitalist statement. It isn’t. You’re only hurting the very people you claim to support. SOME stores have a certain amount they expect to lose to shoplifting, but not all of them do. It can vary even within a company.
And yes, stealing food when your hungry IS different from stealing $500 worth of makeup because you wanted it.
I am Silver Tongue, I am an artist. I have many characters and you can check out my art in the art tag. I occasionally practice witchcraft though I don't do anything too complicated. I am girl 2 and don't know what else to put here.
